Cathédrale Saint-Sauveur d'Aix

Saint Sauveur d'AixThe cloisters were built at the end of the 12th Century. They were used by the canons, the priests who served the bishop and administered the church's property.

Built on an old Roman square that dates from 1 AD.

The cloister galleries are made with timber rather than a stone vaulted construction. This mean that the the pairs of columns are slender and graceful.

The large four columns at the angles of the cloister are decorated with carvings of the symbols of the four evangelists:

  • an angel for St. Matthew;
  • a lion for St. Mark;
  • a bull for St. Luke; and
  • an eagle for St. John.

 

Saint-Sauveur d'AixThe capitals of the columns on the west and north are decorated with scenes from the New Testament and Old Testament, and with a statue of St. Peter.

A marble slab in the west gallery, with an inscription that has worn away, is thought to be the tomb of Basilius, the Bishop of Aix in 500, and the builder of the first cathedral.